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LPPENDix 5.— EXTRACTED FROM THE EEPOKT OF THE U. S. COMMISSIONER 
OF FISH AND FISHERIES FOR 1803. Pages 387 to 392.] 



ESTABLISHMENT OF STATIONS 



FOR THE 



m 



BY 



JOHN J. BRICE, 
OOM:MLAJsri:)Eii, tjnixed states NA."Vir. 



WASHINGTON": 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 
1896. 



[Appendix 5.— EXTRACTED PEOM THE REPORT OF THE U. S. COMMISSIOKER 
OE EISH AND FISHERIES FOR 1893. Pages 387 to 392.] 



ESTABLISHMENT OF STATIONS 



FOR THK 



^^'liunfin 



BY 



JOHN J. BRICE, 

OOMJVLi^LNDER,, XINIXKI) ST-A.TjES NAJSTS", 



WASHINGTON": 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 
1896. 



4 



1 






5.-ESTABLISHMENT OF STATIONS FOR THE PROPAGATIOiN OF 
SALMON ON THE PACIFIC COAST. 



By J. J. Bkice, Commander, United States Navy. 



Washington, D. C, November 15, 1892. 

Sir: I have the honor to submit herewith ii rejtort of investiyatious 
and operations on the Pacific Coast in reference to the establishment 
of stations for the propagation of sahnon. 

The sahuou, which formerly inhabited the Pacific Coast waters in 
countless millions, extending from Alaska to Monterey, are becoming 
each year more reduced in numbers in the yearly run, and the question 
resolves itself into one of almost final extinction or prompt and active 
measures for their i^rotection and propagation. The importance of 
speedily furnishing a supply equal to the demand by artificial means is 
emphasized in the value of the fish industry on that coast, amounting 
to something like $7,000,000 yearly. 

The seal fisheries are a national question and the most prominent 
subject before the people, verging on war, yet their actual commercial 
value is not so great as the fish industry on the Pacific, which is grad- 
ually slipping away from us through depletion by indifference and 
improvident destruction. The ruin has continued without interruption 
until some of the streams, formerly alive with fish, are now nearly 
exhausted and becoming as destitute of salmon as the Hudson and the 
other eastern rivers which were, in early times, abundantly stocked 
with many species of Salmonidce. This destruction took place before 
artificial propagation was j)racticed, an excuse for that day and time; 
but it also serves as a warning in the present, with our knowledge of 
artificial means, to protect and guard the Pacific Coast streams from 
the same misfortune. 

To formulate a plan to restore the salmon in their original numbers 
to the various streams on that coast aud offset the yearly catch by arti- 
ficial propagation has been my duty. 

The urgent necessity for speedy action is manifest in the fact that 
there are many obstacles in the way of the rehabilitation of a river 
once depleted of its fish, aside from the great increase in the labor and 
the exi)ense of transporting young fry from remote localities. It was 
therefore recommended to the United States Fish Commission to estab- 
lish hatcheries on military or other Government reservations, and 

387 



388 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 

similar desirable localities for the production of tlie different species of 
salmon, so arranged as to beuetit all the streams on the Pacilic Coast. 

As an experimental effort and the commencement of the system, a 
hatchery was established at Fort Gaston, flumboldt County, Cal. 
This is the central hatchery, and has auxiliary or subhatcheries on 
the neighboring streams which empty directly into the ocean. These 
auxiliary luitclieries are used for taking the spawn and depositing the 
young fry on or near the spawning-grounds, and are kept open only 
during the s])awning and hatching season, which would be about four 
months of the year. Besides the auxiliary station at Redwood River, 
it is proposed to connect with the traston Station two others on the 
Mad and Eel rivers. There are other streams near by which could be 
utilized in the same way, all emptying into the sea. In addition to 
stocking the waters of the Pacific with salmon and other indigenous 
fish, the central hatchery at Gaston is provided with ponds used for 
hatching and propagating eastern and foreign tish, such as landlocked 
salmon, eastern and German trout. Breeding ponds are in use, filled 
with the two la.st-mentioned fish, from which many will be distributed 
in the streams and waters throughout the country. 

Other localities have been examined and suitable places inspec,ted 
for hatcheries, those on the Colville Reservation near the head of the 
Columbia River and another at Lake Cceur d'Alene being particularly 
favorable. Military or Government reservations were selected for 
several reasons, prominent among them being the assured protection 
of the young tish. For convenience it is also desirable that the hatch- 
eries should be located near the heads of the streams in the vicinity of 
the spawning-grounds, where fish are more likely to be found ripe and 
ready for stripping of their eggs. While the system^need not be con- 
fined to Government reservations, such localities are preferable where 
facilities for the work meet with the requirements. 

The streams should be stocked from the several varieties found on the 
Pacific Coast, preferably the indigenous or the kind of salmon which 
visit the particular stream. Great danger attends the introduction in 
any stream of fish not belonging to the waters. A stronger and more 
rapacious strange fish is sure to destroy the weaker native occupants 
of the stream, and give in return for the destruction probably an inferior 
and less prolific salmon. 

The waters in ilumboldt County, Cal., are also free from vagrant 
and predatory fish; conseipiently the young can be placed in the stream 
at an early age without molestation except from the trout which inhabit 
all these waters. The yearling trout is the voracious enemy of the 
young salmon, and being small himself is capable of pursuing the 
little fish into shoal water, their haven of refuge from danger. The 
destruction of salmon fry by these active young trout is very great. 
Therefore it is not policy to stock the same stream with both salmon 
and trout. Since there is no comparison in their commercial value 



PROPAGATION OF SALMON ON THE PACIFIC COAST. 389 

tbere should be no question as to which shoukl receive the attention 
and protection of the Fish Commission. The Fort Gaston station is 
on the Trinity Eiver, a tributary to the Khimath. The fish appear here 
early in the winter months and again in the spring to spawn. 

When the salmon enters the river and commences his long journey to 
the spawning-grounds it is truly the ellbrtof his life, resulting in many 
cases in death from accident or exhaustion. During this time he eats 
nothing, a \^'ise provision of nature, otherwise the spawn, which is the 
most attractive food for flsh, would be consumed by the multitudes 
which throng the streams during the spawning season. The salmon enter 
tlie river in good condition, well fortified with fat, upon Avhich they 
maintain their strength, combined with the constant supply of nntriment 
from the destruction of the oil-bearing tissues which envelop the ovary 
and the outside membrane covering, the latter holding the eggs and 
oily essence surrounding them. Disintegration of tlie ovary adjuncts 
and spermatic parts begins shortly aJter the fish enter the river, in both 
male and female, but the supply is not so great in the former, because 
the burden and exertion are less. 

The conjunction of natural causes in assisting the salmon in all his 
movements and in the manner of depositing the eggs is as interesting 
as it is beautiful. In the operation of spawning, from my own observa- 
tion, the salmon on arriving at the place selected remains quiet until 
recovered from the effects of the long journey from the sea, and for this 
purpose they select a pool where there is protection and concealment, 
under driftwood or an overhanging bank. In pairs, male and female, 
they build their nests generally in the swift water on the ripple above 
or below the pool, the male guarding it with great jealousy by fighting 
away all intruders. The pool serves as a place of concealment during 
the day; the spawning and nest-making takes place at night or early in 
the morning, continuing during the daytime if it is overcast and dark. 
The act of spawning by the female may go on at intervals for a week 
before all the eggs are deposited. 

Tlie construction of the nest is commenced by digging an elongated 
hole, extending up and down the stream, and located in the swift water 
above or below the pool, the flsh using the nose and fins in making 
the excavation, throwing out the saiid and gravel in volumes in their 
effort. The stones and gravel are carried just below the excavation- by 
tlie current, fi>rming a nest covering a space sometimes more than G 
feet in diameter, the small ])articles of sand and dirt being carried far 
down the stream. 

It seems strange that a collection of stones and pebldes should form 
a fish nest, and it becomes a matter of speculation as to the manner of 
secreting the eggs under a mass of stones. Yet nature has made it 
very simple, and secured its results in a matter-of-fact way. The eggs 
are deposited in the hole by the female and impregnated by the male. 
Duriug the fertilization, which takes from half an hour to fifty minutes. 



390 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 

tbe eggs cling together in a mass and to tlie bottom of the stream; 
they then commence to separate, and the gentle current sweeping down 
through the trough like hole carries the eg^^ out of the excavation, as it 
becomes detached from the mass, and onto the nest of stones below, 
where it tumbles fiom one stone to another, until it drops into one of 
the crevi(;es, eventually finding its way to the bottom of the pile or 
nest, and there lies securely hidden away, well protected from preda- 
tory fish, until it is finally hatched. 

It takes from forty to sixty days for the eggs to hatch, the time 
depending upon the temperature of the water. After hatching the 
fish remain in the nest about twenty days, until the und)ilical sac is 
exhausted, having at this time but one instinct — to hide and burrow 
deeper into the nest. After the substance of the sac is consumed the 
little fish approaches the surface to snap at passing particles of food, 
and in so doing is Avashed away from the nest and finally makes its way 
to the shoal M-ater near the shore, gradually dropping downstream 
until the fall freshets come and carry it into the larger streams, and 
eventually into the ocean. 

Salmon make their nests and spawn differently under different cir- 
cumstances. If prevented from reaching their spawning-ground, by 
late freshets or other obstacles, they will spawn in the river or deposit 
their eggs in the muddy bottom of a pool, if there are no gravel beds 
available. In both instances most of the eggs are lost. By artificial 
means as much as 95 per cent of the eggs are hatched; and in depos- 
iting the young fry it has been the custom at the Fort Gaston station 
to place them in the streams near the spawning-grounds five or six 
weeks after hatching. Young salmon fed abundantly in the ponds for 
four or five months before they are i)ut in the streams acquire different 
habits, and are inclined to linger in the fresh water the year round, 
having become too strong to be carried out by the tall and winter fresh- 
ets against their inclination. The salmon is very much the victim 
of circumstances, and in his movements is governed more or less by 
freshets and the temperature of the water. From the latter he is most 
naturally controlled in seeking more genial surroundings. The early 
stage of a little salmon's existence is made up of continuous alarms to 
avoid <langer, and the commencement of his life is spent in hiding and 
darting about until he gains sufficient strength and activity to venture 
abroad for food, trusting to speed for safety. 

The method of taking salmon for spawn at Fort Gaston consists in 
running a wire fence diagonally across the stream, near the upper end of 
which is inserted a V-shaped trap made of the same wire stretched over a 
wooden frame: the pointed endofthetrapis placed upstream and the wire 
fence extends to the shores from each corner of the lower end. In the 
lower face of the trap is a hole large enough for the salmon to enter, with 
converging steel rods, 18 inches long, extending inwardly from around 
the opening; these are pressed apart as the salmon enters and spring 



PROPAGATION OF SALMON ON THE PACIFIC COAST. 391 

back into place when lie is secure inside. The traps are located below 
the spawning-ground and convenient to the hatchery. 

The Fort Gaston station was the experimental attempt in the com- 
mencement of a systematic plan to stock yearly the streams on the 
Pacific with salmon, and in view of the satisfactory results given by this 
station it is recommended that the system be extended by establishing 
hatcheries with 4 auxiliary stations each in the following localities: One 
on theChilcat River, in Alaska, or in its vicinity; oneonPuget Sound; 
one on the Colville Reservation, Columbia River, and one on Eel River, 
California. It is also recommended to increase the Gaston station with 
3 auxiliary hatcheries, and connect with the McCloud station 4 auxiliary 
stations. 

The following is an estimateof the cost of establishing and maintain- 
ing these proposed stations: 

Four ceutral hatcheries, buildings, and apparatns, at $2,000 $8, 000 

Twenty auxiliary hatcheries, at $300 each 6, 000 

Five superintendents, at $1,200 per year each 6, 000 

Six laborers, at $40 per month eacb for twelve months 2, 880 

Twenty-four hiborers, at $40 per month each for four months 3, 840 

Yearly miscellaneous expenses of each central hatchery, including its aux- 
iliary stations 1, 500 

Total miscellaneous expenses yearly of five stations, not including the Mc- 
Cloud hatchery / 7, 500 

With this small outlay of public money each important salmon stream 
on the Pacific Coast could be stocked with young fish artificially hatched 
far exceeding in numbers the yearly catch or market demand. 

As the farmer recognizes the necessity of replenishing his stock every 
year, in like manner the same prudent forethouglit is required in regard 
to the occupants of the streams, and the expenditures lor this purpose 
in the plan suggested are insignificant when (iompared to the millions 
of dollars represented in the result. 

For the further protection of the fish on that coast, it is suggested 
that one of the rivers, the Klamath, for instance, and its tributaries, be 
held by the Government as a fish preserve, prohibiting seining or 
taking salmon in any way for commercial purposes. A great national 
nursery would thereby be established, from which not only the Pacific 
Coast would be benefited, but the whole country. The land extending 
some distance from the mouth of the Klamath River is, I believe, a 
Government reservation, requiring no special legislation to close the 
stream to outside enterprise. 

Authorities give the salmon (genus Oncorhj/uchus) on the Pacific Coast 
as representing five species. The king, qninnat, or chinook salmon has 
an average weight of 22 pounds; there are IG rays on the anal fin to 
distinguish it. The blueback salmon weighs from 5 to 8 pounds and 
has 14 to 10 rays on its anal fin. The silver salmon, weighing from 3 to 
8 pounds, has 13 rays on the anal fin to distinguish it. The dog salmon, 
with an average weight of 12 pounds, has 14 anal rays. In the fall the 



392 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 

male dog- salmon is red and his jaws are much distorted. This is also 
true of the linm])bac;k salmon, which is small, weighing np to 6 pounds 
and having 15 anal rays. 

Among the offshoots of the Sahnonida' is the steelhead, which, from 
good authority, is the salmon trout, the same species as the rainbow 
trout in the streams. In point of fact the steelhead and rainbow trout 
were originally one and the same fish, so far as at j^resent known from 
their construction, the difference in size being due to their habits and 
the extensive surroundings of the steelhead. In construction, except 
its size, the steelhead is a trout, but in habits a salmon. The rainbow 
trout may become a salmon trout (or steelhead) when its habits are 
anadromous, which could occur through accident, such as an unusual 
freshet in which the rainbow trout is washed into the estuaries of the 
rivers and the sea. The rich food and boundless extent of territory off" 
the mouths of rivers account for his increase in size and strength. This 
growth is noticed in the salmon as being comjjaratively insignificant 
while remaining in fresh water, but rai)id upon its first visit to the sea. 
Fish food is most plentiful in the ocean near the estnaries of the rivers, 
as the influence of the fresh-water stream is felt many miles at sea, 
causing an abundant growth of marine vegetation or vast pastures, 
attracting the smaller fish and Crustacea upon which the salmon feed, 
returning yearly to their native rivers to spawn. 

Very respectfully, J. J. Brice, 

Commander, U. 8. Navy. 

Hon. Marshall McDonald, 

United States Fish Commissioner. 



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